Margot Robbie’s acting career hasn’t featured many “misses,” especially in recent years. Finding a movie that endured the painful title of box-office flop has been rare throughout much of Robbie’s career, beginning with the wildly popular 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street. Many of the films she’s been in that received theatrical releases have either cleared their production budget or been extremely close. Even the 2021 film The Suicide Squad, which fell short of its production budget by roughly $17 million, gets an asterisk, as it had a hybrid release on HBO Max during the pandemic.
It had been more than three years since Robbie was in a movie widely considered a “box office flop.” However, that stretch ended with her latest release in September 2025, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, in which she starred alongside Colin Farrell. Now, the movie with two high-profile stars will look for redemption as it joins Netflix.
What Went Wrong with ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’?
While A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was unquestionably a big swing for a movie with a theatrical release, even its star power with Robbie and Farrell wasn’t enough to prevail at the box office. It. proved to be too niche for the general moviegoing public, something that was common for many films throughout 2025.
The concept, directed by Kogonada, features two strangers with different mindsets on life and specifically relationships, connecting in the most unique way to set off on, you guessed it, a beautiful journey. The storyline of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey itself has plenty of intrigue, but disappointing box office numbers and poor reviews from critics and audiences took center stage.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’s box office numbers, per Box Office Mojo:
- Opening: $3,252,578 (3,330 theaters)
- Domestic box office gross: $6,671,082
- International box office gross: $15,660,626
- Worldwide gross: $22,331,708
While Robbie and Farrell’s film more than doubled its domestic box office pull internationally, it wasn’t enough to salvage its theatrical run. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was estimated by IMDb to have a $45 million production budget, falling significantly short of breaking even and was unquestionably a box office flop.
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Robbie’s two previous movies were both impressive at the box office for very different reasons. She was in the 2023 science fiction comedy Asteroid City, which featured several other big names, including Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Maya Hawke and several others. Although it pulled in just under $54 million worldwide, it had a $25 million budget and was a specialty release for Focus Features. The movie broke records for per-theater averages before its wider release in mid-2023, as Deadline detailed.
Following that, the worldwide phenomenon of Barbie came shortly after, in which she starred. Barbie pulled in an incredible $1.44 billion worldwide, including over $810.9 million internationally, according to The Numbers.
The Netflix Factor: Can Streaming Save ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’?
Although the box office numbers disappointed, Robbie and Farrell’s romantic fantasy has all the makings of a potential streaming hit. Moviegoers may not have opted to spend money on a ticket to see A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, but the unique storyline and star power of the two lead actors should set it up for success when it hits Netflix.
Fortunately, as What’s on Netflix revealed, the film’s official streaming release is slated for Saturday, January 17, so those interested in checking out Robbie’s new film won’t have to wait long. It’ll be interesting to see how a broader audience responds to the film, since it didn’t receive an overwhelming number of reviews.
Although A Big Bold Beautiful Journey has 197 critics’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a disappointing 37 percent rating, audiences were higher on the movie. Based on just over 500 verified ratings, the audience score sits at 58 percent, a number that could see an increase following its upcoming streaming release.
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